Second Chances at One Life
by Christiiiiine
Summary: Bare/BMC Crossover. Jason survived suicide attempt and Jeremy is in the hospital. Peter and Michael tell their stories.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one- Peter

 _Beep, beep, beep,_ went the heart monitor. Peter wanted to smash it. He didn't need a constant reminder that the person before him could die at any moment, but he heard the monitor in his sleep. There was so much white, everywhere. Everything smelled of bleach. The cloth chair was saggy and covered with stains from Lord-knows-what. Down the hallway, a couple was sobbing as the doctor broke them the bad news. The noise was deafening.

Peter looked down at the once beautiful face of his boyfriend, now pale and hollow. IV's and other frightening-looking tubes and wires ran to and from his body like rivers from a mountain. _Beep, beep, beep._ He wanted to punch something.

"Peter, Jason's not waking up any time soon. Go home and get some sleep, please," Nadia was in the corner, Ivy asleep on her shoulder.

"No. The reason he's here is because I… we had an argument. I'm not leaving here until he does."

"Then at least take a shower, please. Have you even taken one since you got here?"

"No… but I can't leave or something bad might happen…"

"Peter, I'm not going anywhere, and nothing bad will happen to my big brother as long as I'm here."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Shoulders sagging, he limped into the bathroom, towel slung over his shoulder. He turned on the water as hot as it would go and peeled off his clothes slowly. As soon as he pulled the bleached-white curtains closed, he collapsed onto the tile floor and sobbed. He let out all the emotions that had been bottled up throughout the last few months; Jason's doubts, his fling with Ivy, his mom, and the fact that the love of his life, his only light, had tried to kill himself because Peter refused to run away with him. He had poisoned himself, just like Romeo. And if there was no chance of survival, the Lord only knows whether or not he would do the same. Join him now, like Juliet did her Romeo.

After he had gotten all his tears out and his skin was tomato red from the hot water, he rocked back and forth for a while. He lost track of time until Nadia knocked on the door to see if he was alright.

"I'm _fine_ ," he reassured her, which was a total lie. Peter had never been fine, at least not by society's standards, but now, especially, he felt like he was thin ice, and every time someone asked him if he was okay felt like a person stomping on the sheet. It was cracking. Soon it would shatter.

He got dressed in the same clothes he had been wearing. Gross, but he had no others. Besides, right now, he couldn't care less about what anyone thought anymore. He ran his fingers through his hair once, took a deep breath, and prepared to face his boyfriend's sister.

Nadia pretended like she couldn't hear him sobbing, which he supposed was a good thing. Ivy had woken up, so Nadia suggested they go get some sandwiches from the vending machine down the hall. At first , they refused, but then Peter got the hint; Nadia needed some time alone with Jason.

"If anything changes, yell, okay?" Peter told her.

"I will," she replied, not taking her eyes off her brother.

"I mean, _anything_ , Nadia. Like, if there's a slight change in his heartbeat or his finger moves a little… "

"Peter, I will. Besides, the vending machine is right down the hall. It will take five minutes, tops. He hasn't changed in two days, I doubt it will be any different today," she promised.

As soon as they were outside, Ivy turned to face him.

"I'll get them. What kind of meat do you want on yours?"

"I couldn't eat anything right now, let alone stale vending machine sandwiches," he replied.

"You have to eat something. I'll get you a granola bar. You like the blueberry filling, right?" she asked.

"Sure, whatever," Peter sighed. He walked with her anyway, to get circulation throughout his legs. On the way, they passed another room. A boy about Peter's age, with messy brown hair, a red hoodie with a pride patch, and big white headphones around his neck was arguing with a nurse.

"Please, just let me see him… "

"Mister…"

"Mell," he answered.

"Mr. Mell, visitation is for _family only._ That does not include best friends, or boyfriends, or whatever you consider yourself, and that's final." With that, the nurse spun on her heels and sashayed back into the room. Pride Patch kid put his back against the wall and sunk to the floor. He put his headphones on until a tear rolled down his cheek and he tore them off in anger. He wiped his eyes.

"How long have you been here?" Peter inquired. The kid sniffed and looked at his watch.

"Twelve hours, thirty-four minutes, and fourteen seconds," he replied miserably. "I've been asking to visit constantly, but they still say no," he said angrily. "They just don't get it."

"No one does, do they," said Peter, running a hand down his face. "My boyfriend and I are roommates in a Catholic boarding school. Neither of us are out yet, but after a while, I started to get tired of being kept a secret. I kept pushing him to come out to my mother, but eventually, it got to be too much. He and Ivy… well, she's pregnant now, with his kid. And Jason… he realized his mistake. He told me he was sorry and asked if I would run away with him. I said no, and h-he overdosed." Pride Patch boy thought for a second.

"All Jeremy wanted was to be cool. He wanted to be with this girl so badly, and he knew he had no chance. We've been bullied since elementary school, and best friends since kindergarten, but eventually I wasn't enough. He was just so sick of it… and now he might die. I think it's because Rich found out I liked him. He's been torturing us about being a couple ever since," he said. "Anyway, I think he ran into Rich in the bathroom one day, and he said that the only way to be cool was to take this drug. I'm not sure what it was, but Jer took to much of it."

"That sounds… God, I'm sorry. But you and Jeremy… are you dating?"

"God, no! If Jeremy Heere and I were dating, the entire world would know. I would tell everyone he was my boyfriend."

"You must really love him," said Peter. Pride Patch boy closed his eyes and nodded slowly.

"I love Jason more than anything in the world. We've been roommates since seventh grade, but we didn't know about the other being gay until halfway through eighth. He was helping me study for midterms, and I just couldn't understand algebra to save my life. We were up until three-thirty until we finally fell asleep on the same bed. My alarm went off four hours later and he was spooning me. He turned bright red, it was hilarious. Anyway, I got an A- on my midterm, and we were both so happy that it just sort of… happened." Peter wiped a tear from his cheek. "I don't know you very well, but it seems like anything God would want to happen will happen."

"Thank you…"

"Peter."

"Michael." Just then a man walked out of the room.

"Michael, how long have you been here?" asked the man.

"Twelve hours, thirty-six minutes, and… forty-two seconds," he answered.

"Well, Jesus, boy, come inside. He's been yelling your name in his sleep. I'm no doctor, but I'm pretty sure he'll wake up if you talk to him. Lord knows he's been in love with you since he knew what love was…" he winced like he had said something bad, but Michael looked like the entire world had been wrapped up and given to him as a present on Christmas.

"Mr. Heere, visitation is for _family only,_ " said the nurse.

"That's the biggest load of bull I've heard in my life! This boy here is gonna be my son-in-law one day, just you wait!" the nurse sighed.

"Fine. But only for a minute. Jeremy's dad looked like he was going to argue, but Michael sent him a knowing glance. They walked in together.

Through the window, he saw Michael start to cry. He ran up and grabbed an unconscious Jeremy's hand, and stroked his hair with the other. Jeremy muttered something in his sleep, and said it again, a bit louder. His eyes fluttered open. They were blue. He looked over at Michael. His expression didn't change, but every muscle in his body relaxed. He started to cry. Peter couldn't hear, but he must have been apologizing for something because Michael was comforting him. Jeremy sat up, and Michael kept trying to push him back down. He shook his head. They kept talking. Peter watched the tension build up in the room until the pair locked lips.

"Move," said the nurse. Peter complied, but through the open door he could see Michael beam at him and mouth a "Thank you."


	2. Chapter 1 1-2

Note (more the bottom): Hey, guys, sorry I didn't add notes to the first chapter. Sorry if this is bad, it's only, like, my second fic. I just needed something other than death to Jason and Peter's story, and Jeremy and Michael just sort of ended up in the mix. I decided to add a little more of Boyf Riends in before we see Jason and Peter's ending, so, here we go...

Chapter 1.5- Michael

It had been a crappy week.

It was like, if there was a higher power up there, they (Michael thought that if there was a God, they wouldn't be confined to any specific gender) must have decided to play a prank on him. The wifi at his house had stopped working, so that he couldn't stream his, ehem, Netflix. The love of his life dumped him in a bathroom at a halloween party, knowing full well that halloween was his favorite holiday. Then he ended up in the hospital for "overdose." On top of that, the nurse wouldn't let Michael in to see him. That didn't matter. Michael was so in love he sat at the door with his headphones around his neck like a puppy. Unlike Peter, who stopped eating under stress, Michael ate enough sugar and caffeine to give a heart attack to a water buffalo. Fun Dip. Fruit Gushers. Lunchables. Besides being gay, everything about Michael would have been easier to handle if he had lived in the 90's. These were things he thought about often, along with Jeremy and his blue eyes. High cheekbones. Full lips.

So Michael kept his headphones on, listening to the 80's hits playlist he had made on spotify.

After the fifth time the nurse had refused his request to see Jeremy, he put on his headphones. He tried to let the music fill him.

Will you stand above me?

Look my way, never love me

Rain keeps falling, rain keeps falling

Down, down, down

Will you recognize me?

Call my name or walk on by

Rain keeps falling, rain keeps falling

Down, down, down, down…

He tore them off and ran his hands through his hair. A voice came from next to him. He jumped, as he didn't see the boy sit next to him, but he answered with a glance to his watch.

"Twelve hours, thirty-four minutes, and fourteen seconds,"he replied miserably. "I've been asking to visit constantly, but they still say no," he said angrily. "They just don't get it."

"No one does, do they," replied the boy. He told Michael his story. Boyfriend. Roommates. Catholic. Secret. Pregnant. Mistake. Overdose.

Jeremy.

Michael told the boy about Jeremy, and how he'd been in love with him since seventh grade. He told him about being bullied, and Jeremy's desire to fit in. and this boy, he listened. He understood.

"That sounds… God, I'm sorry. But you and Jeremy… are you dating?" asked the boy.

"God, no! If Jeremy Heere and I were dating, the entire world would know. I would tell everyone he was my boyfriend," Michael stated truthfully. Ashamed, sure, but this kid seemed to get it. He was tired of being forgotten, too.

"You must really love him," said the boy. All Michael could do was nod. Still lost in thought, he only half listened to the boy's story about his first kiss. It took him a minute to process that, no matter how much crap he's dealt with in the past five years, he's still managed to believe that there was a God, and that he was being looked after. Michael thought about how much courage that took. Amidst his thought, Michael didn't hear Jeremy's dad come out of his room.

"Michael." Just then a man walked out of the room.

"Michael, how long have you been here?" asked Mr. Heere.

"Twelve hours, thirty-six minutes, and… forty-two seconds," he answered, with a glance at his watch.

"Well, Jesus, boy, come inside. He's been yelling your name in his sleep. I'm no doctor, but I'm pretty sure he'll wake up if you talk to him. Lord knows he's been in love with you since he knew what love was…"

Looking back on that day, the only thing Michael would ever recall clearly was seeing Jeremy. Running a hand through his hair, and hearing him mutter his name in his haze.

"I'm here, Jeremy, I'm here," he sobbed with relief.

"Michael," he moaned. Every muscle in Michael's body tensed, until Jeremy's blue eyes fluttered open.

Michael hadn't seen Jeremy cry since he scraped his knee on the blacktop in second grade, but they both shed enough tears to drown a cat that day. Jeremy's apologies were less than mediocre, and his excuses were dumb, but Michael was so happy to have his boy back that he didn't care.

"Sit down, Jer, please, you need to rest… "

"No, Michael, I have to tell you something. The reason… I mean, it wasn't the only reason, but-"

"Jeremy, please, I'm going to call the nurse-"

"No, please, just listen. I was hoping that the SQUIP would help me forget, and get rid of feeling I had that would never make a difference," said Jeremy.

"What do you mean, _feelings?_ " asked Michael.

"I mean, I love you, and I've loved you since-"

It was everything Michael had ever dreamed of.

Note: AWWWW! I love them so much!

Anyway, hope you enjoyed. PLEASE leave a review! Was it any good? Do you want me to continue this story? Because I don't want to continue if no one likes it, but it's been so much fun to write. Sorry for any grammatical errors, btw.

Also, follow me on Tumblr!

fangirl10-90


	3. Chapter 3

NOTES: Hey guys!

So, a big part of being a writer (er, a wannabe writer) is getting feedback. It physically pains me that people are reading my work but not following it, or even commenting on it. SO, if you could do that and tell me if you even want to hear any more of this, PLEASE comment, or like, or follow, or WHATEVER. I need the inspiration because my anxiety is convincing me that everyone hates it. Maybe you do. But, like, could you at least tell me it sucks?

Also: Big thanks to my friend, who insisted I write another chapter when I told him no one reviewed. He's an amazing friend. I love you, Boo! (but only a little)

Kay, here we go…

Chapter Three: Peter/ Jason

Watching Jeremy wake up to someone who loved him, and had loved him forever, gave Peter a sensation of hurt and joy at the same time. Hurt, because he knew that both Michael and Jeremy were prepared to be brave, to be themselves. He knew that Jason wasn't ready for that yet. He knew that he might never be.

However sad he was, he was happy too, that Michael, who had been a loyal friend to Jeremy throughout his years of quiet desperation, he had finally gotten the boy he deserved, who would love him back with a full heart.

Peter looked down at the pale face of his boyfriend again. He looked back at Nadia, who was staring at him with big blue eyes, almost identical to Jason's, and Ivy, who was rubbing her belly nervously.

"Ivy, let's go on and take a walk, okay?" Ivy frowned, but complied. As soon as they were out of sight, Peter sat down on the edge of Jason's bed. He didn't know he was crying until a tear landed on Jason's forehead.

"Please, Jason… I don't know what in God's name you were thinking, but… You have to wake up, baby, please. You have to… I love you, Jason. Please. Please," he managed to choke out before letting out a sob. He kissed Jason's forehead, only to realize it was covered in a thin film of sweat.

Beneath him, Jason let out a gasp.

Jason didn't see anything. He saw darkness, and fog. His head. His head hurt. But he heard everything. He heard the doctor's doubts. Nadia's faith. Ivy's hurt. But, most of all, he heard Peter's desperation. Running water. Sobs. The sobs of an angel. _No,_ he thought. _Don't cry for me… I don't deserve it. I don't deserve you._ It pained him. _I'm sorry, Peter. Take me back. Please._ He just wanted the angel to stop crying. His sobs broke Jason's heart. He had done this. He was loved.

 _I have to wake up,_ was his only thought.

 _Beep, beep, beep… Peter, Peter, Peter…_ "Jason? Jason! Can you hear me? Jason, I'm right here baby, say something… open your eyes, please… Is there a doctor? Please, send someone, his hand moved… Nadia! He's waking up!" _Peter, Peter, Peter…_

He drifted in and out of consciousness. All he could think was _Peter._ He saw them. He saw when they met, in seventh grade. They locked eyes, and nothing had been the same since. He saw them kiss for the first time. All those times, frantic kissing in bathrooms every chance they could get. Losing his breath, at every touch of the hands. Warmth at every touch of the lips.

Jason opened his eyes.

MORE NOTES:

sorry this one was shorter. I just need some sleep, cause I can't remember when I slept last exactly.

Review. Please.

Thanks!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Jeremy/Michael

Note: sorry, its kinda spicy. Nothing gets too bad in terms of sex but a few curse words are used. More notes at the bottom.

After being released, Jeremy was still on bedrest for a few days. The nurses didn't tell Michael anything. But they couldn't even tell Mr. Heere much, either. No one knew why exactly Jeremy would start screaming in the night, or what the marks on his back meant. Not even Michael knew about the marks until a while after Jeremy was discharged from the hospital.

They were in Jeremy's room, on the bed, like they always were in the old days: video game controllers in hand, slaying Nintendo zombies and ignoring anything that would make them look at all productive or responsible. But this time they didn't play video games. It was just Jeremy and Michael, laying on the bed, face to face, enjoying each other's company. Jeremy tried not to blink. He wanted to stare into Michael's eyes for all of eternity.

"Hey, Jer, I was just gonna head out for-" they both shot up.

"Oh, sorry. Hey Michael. Um, was I interrupting something?" Both boys hurried to reassure him that he had not, in fact, interrupted anything.

"Okay, I'm just gonna run to… somewhere for a while. I'll order Chinese and pick it up. Don't do anyth- aw, hell, you've waited long enough to make this freakin' official already. Just be safe, m'kay? Be back in two hours. Oh, and clean up when you're done, for Pete's sake." Jeremy had turned bright red, and Michael was utterly beaming.

"Sure thing, Dad," Jeremy managed to choke out, but his dad had already closed the door again. Both boys ran to the window. As soon as his car was out of sight, they looked at each other… and, as if they couldn't wait any longer, their lips locked. Jeremy turned his head slightly sideways and felt Michael's tongue slide between his lips, and oh my God, he may have whimpered. He began to pull back so he could suck on Michael's bottom lip for a while, something he'd been dying to do since Lord knows how long. He ripped off Michael's hoodie. He felt his shirt come off, and Michael's hands trace along the skin of his torso.

"Holy shit, Jer, when did this happen?" he inquired. Jeremy shrugged, remembering all the push-ups and crunches he'd had to do. "For the record, I like this six-pack much better than a six pack of green Mountain Dew." his hands crept around towards his back. Jeremy winced.

"What?"

"It's nothing." He pulled Michael towards him, but he broke away. "Turn around, Jeremy,"

"Micha, it's nothing, really, can we please-" Michael grabbed him by the shoulders and spun him around. There were burns all over, in complicated patterns of straight lines that met at the nape of his neck and disappeared. His fingers traced the patterns they made, sending shivers up Jeremy's spine.

"What. The. Fuck. Is. This. Who did this to you, Jeremy? Who?!"

"It was the SQUIP, Micha, it would shock me every time I thought about… about…"

"About what, Jeremy?"

"It would shock me every time I thought about you, which was, like, all the time." He'd tried to make a joke, but his voice cracked, and it broke Michael's heart, to see Jeremy feel like being himself is wrong, and that loving Michael was something he should be ashamed of.

"I'm so sorry, Micha, if I'd known it would take you away from me I don't think… I… "

"Jer, I know I'm not the coolest person. I've never been cool to society's standards, and I'm okay with that, and you were, too. Remember? Until Rich started tormenting us… I didn't really care. I always felt like if people didn't like me for me they shouldn't be my friend. That's where you and I are so different, Jer. It was your Mom, I think. You couldn't please her, so you wanted to please everybody. But, Jeremy, I admire you. You were popular, and your life was everything you had ever wanted. And you gave it all up because it was the right thing to do."

"Micha, I was cleaning up my own damn mess. Dad's not calling us brave for doing laundry before he gets home, right?" He was crying now. Michael felt awful. He wanted to kill anyone who had ever tortured his Jeremy.

"Look at me, Jeremy. I don't know or care what anyone else thinks. I- I love you, Jer, more than anything."

"I love you too, Michael. And without you in it, my life could never be what I've always wanted." He couldn't wait any longer. Jeremy flipped Michael on the bed. Their fingers locked as their lips met again. They were so content that they didn't hear the front door open.

"Jeremy? Hello? Baby, are you here? I'm so, so sorry if I ever... _what the f-_ "

"Mom?! What the hell?!"

NOTES: Sorry. I just needed some time for the next Peter/Jason chapter because I love my angst but I think there's too much? Like, I just want Jason to feel sorry for peter for once cause he kind of deserves to feel crappy about himself. But it would be weird if Peter had passed out from starving himself just as Jason woke up, so... yeah. I'm sorry I haven't been updating regularly, either. It's been busy here with school, but I'm tryin. Kay. PLEASE leave a review, thanks for reading!

Follow me on Tumblr, BTW cause no one else does! It's Fangirl10-90


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